translation problem
Yunsong Huang
Eva Bekker
>I'm totally lost with this verse of "99 Luftballons" :-(
>
>99 Düsenjäger
>Jeder war ein großer Krieger
>*Hielten sich für* Captain Kirk
>_Das_ gab ein großes Feuerwerk
>Die *Nachbarn* haben nichts _gerafft_
>Und fühlten sich gleich angemacht
>Dabei schoß man am Horizont
>Auf 99 Luftballons
>
>(1). What does *sich halten für* mean? (It's not in the dictionary)
To think of oneself might be a translation. I think of myself I'm
great = Ich halte mich für großartig.
>(2). What does _Das_ refer to? If it's "Captain Kirk", then it should be _Der_. Or, it's equivalent to "Es"?
In this case it's "There is (was)"
>(3). *Nachbarn* refers to the accompanying jet-fighters?
"Die Nachbarn" are just "others" in this case, or if you like
neighbours. But they are neighbours of the one who tells the story,
not of the jet-fighters.
>
>My translation:
>
>99 jet-fighters
>Everyone was a big warrior
>Obeying the order of Captain Kirk [I'm guessing here]
>There was a big firework [Or, he gave an order of a big firework?]
>The wingmen didn't understand the order
>and felt excited
>thereby they shooted over horizon
>at those 99 ballons
99 jet fighters
Each a great warrior
believing (thinking) to be Capt.Kirk
Neighbours (or other people) didn't realize (and understand) anything
But felt pissed off
while at the horizon
they only fired at 99 ballons
>Well, if the order was a 'go', and if the wingmen didn't understand it, then why would they open fire at the poor ballons?
The whole thing is a picture. You can well translate "neighbours" as
"neighbouring countries"...
Michael Hemmer
> I'm totally lost with this verse of "99 Luftballons" :-(
>
> 99 Düsenjäger
> Jeder war ein großer Krieger
> *Hielten sich für* Captain Kirk
> _Das_ gab ein großes Feuerwerk
> Die *Nachbarn* haben nichts _gerafft_
> Und fühlten sich gleich angemacht
> Dabei schoß man am Horizont
> Auf 99 Luftballons
> (1). What does *sich halten für* mean? (It's not in the dictionary)
It's not strictly a reflexive verb, rather a special case of a
transitive one used with a reference to oneself:
jdn./etw. für jdn./etw. halten = to (mis)take sb/sth for sb/sth.
> (2). What does _Das_ refer to? If it's "Captain Kirk", then it should
> be _Der_. Or, it's equivalent to "Es"?
It refers to the fact of the jet pilots taking themselves for Captain
Kirk (which is, by the way, one of the silliest comparisons I've ever
heard, since Star Trek's Captain Kirk is depicted as an extraordinary
peaceable man, not at all keen on shooting): "it resulted in a huge
fireworks".
> (3). *Nachbarn* refers to the accompanying jet-fighters?
It refers to the neighboring countries, where people would assume an
attack and react accordingly (i.e., start the war the song is all about).
Michael
Sebastian Koppehel
> (1). What does *sich halten für* mean? (It's not in the dictionary)
To consider oneself, or to mistake oneself for someone. I recommend
the online dictionary at http://dict.leo.org/
If you look up "halten", you get lots of results:
http://dict.leo.org/?search=halten
The third entry is: to perceive so. as sth. / jmdn. für etwas halten
> (2). What does _Das_ refer to?
The whole situation described before.
> (3). *Nachbarn* refers to the accompanying jet-fighters?
No, to nearby countries.
> 99 jet-fighters
> Everyone was a big warrior
> Obeying the order of Captain Kirk [I'm guessing here]
> There was a big firework [Or, he gave an order of a big firework?]
> The wingmen didn't understand the order
> and felt excited
> thereby they shooted over horizon
> at those 99 ballons
No, that's not quite it :-) Everyone of the ninety-nine fighter pilots
has a reckless, dare-devil character and therefore, great fireworks
ensued. Now to the last four lines:
Die Nachbarn haben nix gerafft / The neighbouring countries didn't
understand anything,
und fühlten sich gleich angemacht / and immediately felt harassed
dabei schoß man am Horizont auf 99 Luftballons / when all what
happened on the horizon was that they were shooting at 99 balloons.
I'm translating the "dabei" phrase somewhat loosely here, of course.
"Dabei" means something like "although", but it is used as a special
adverb. It signifies that something ought not to be or seems
surprising or remarkable in the light of what was said before, eg.:
"Er hat mir 100 Euro geliehen, dabei ist er selbst knapp bei Kasse."
- Sebastian
Wayne Brown
news:br4lop$5vs$1...@gist.usc.edu...
>
>I'm totally lost with this verse of "99 Luftballons" :-(
You have to listen to the entire song, especially the last verse, to
understand what happened in the part you're having trouble with. Ninety-nine
unidentified flying objects were suddenly spotted on the horizon; therefore,
a general sent up 99 jet fighters to check out the objects and sound the
alarm if they turned out to be UFO's from outer space. Each of the jet
pilots _considered himself_ a great macho warrior, just like good old
Captain Kirk who blew attacking enemies to smithereens when they threatened
the federation. *That* (in other words, the fact that each pilot thought he
was Rambo personified) prompted the pilots to open fire -- something that
resulted in one hell of a fireworks with all 99 pilots blasting away.
Neighboring countries didn't know what in hell was going on; they thought
they were the object of a surprise attack, although it was nothing more than
99 trigger-happy fighter jet pilots shooting away at 99 harmless balloons.
The result was 99 years of war that turned the world into one big pile of
rubble, with no winners and all losers.
Regards, ----- WB.